Carphone Warehouse buys Tiscali U.K. ops

In a long-anticipated move, Carphone Warehouse Group has sealed a deal to acquire the U.K. assets of Italian carrier Tiscali. The acquisition will make Carphone Warehouse the second-largest broadband service provider in the U.K. behind BT with 4.25 million customers.

The Tiscali assets reportedly have been on the block for many months, and several potential suitors surfaced, but Tiscali's financial instability and shaky credit markets made potential deals problematic. Tiscali's auditor recently said it would not sign off on the company's 2008 financial results.

For more:
- The Wall Street Journal has this Dow Jones Newswires story

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